Witnesses tell House committee universal design goes beyond building codes; VHFA outlines practical menu approach

Sarah Lauderville, executive director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, told the House Committee on General and Housing on April 24 that universal design is ‘‘a proactive approach that anticipates human diversity from the start’’ and should be treated as a set of guiding principles rather than a prescriptive code.

Lauderville reviewed the history of the concept and the seven commonly cited principles — equitable use; flexibility in use; simple and intuitive use; perceptible information; tolerance for error; low physical effort; and appropriate size and space — and warned that those principles do not by themselves translate into technical building requirements. "The principles describe what good design should achieve, but they do not prescribe how to achieve it in a particular building," she said, adding that many Vermont spaces remain inaccessible despite the Americans with Disabilities Act establishing a baseline in 1990.

Maura Collins, executive director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, told the committee VHFA supports universal-design goals but relies on a practical compliance approach when public funding is involved. "We have a menu approach — roughly 40 ways a project can meet universal-design goals — and ask developers how many units will include those features and why not if they don't," Collins said. VHFA requires a higher bar for many of the projects it funds (for example, accessible ground-floor entrances and a small percentage of accessible units in some properties) but does not impose a single statutory definition of "universal design." "Clarity is kindness when it comes to building," she added, arguing that measurable, actionable standards help builders and enforcement.

Witnesses and members discussed trade-offs between new construction and retrofits, with Lauderville noting that building intentionally for accessibility is typically cheaper than retrofitting later. She described typical retrofit priorities (entrances and bathrooms) and estimated that individual bathroom projects can range from about $10,000 to $20,000; VCIL's program handles roughly 60–80 projects per year and spends "about $400,000 to $500,000 a year," she said.

The committee also heard data framing the scale of the gap: members cited the committee's 2025 housing report noting roughly 2,713 accessible or adaptable rental units out of an estimated 76,000 total units and about 268 units specifically designated for people with disabilities. Collins said VHFA's directory covers approximately 14,000 subsidized units and that much of Vermont's housing stock pre-dates ADA-era requirements, which complicates efforts to measure and enforce accessibility across the market.

On policy mechanics, Collins suggested study and stakeholder outreach (builders, realtors and the Vermont Access Board) and flagged an amendment that would require a November report to the legislature assessing whether to enact a statewide building code or off-site construction codes and whether such codes should include universal-design elements. She said a statewide building code for all housing — not only off-site manufacture — would help builders know expectations and could ease enforcement.

Committee members pressed on whether the state should aim for broader accessibility in publicly subsidized housing and whether the 5% accessibility requirement in some funded projects is adequate. Collins said those are policy choices with financial and practical trade-offs and that raising standards for publicly funded projects is one lever the state can use while acknowledging that changing the overall housing stock will take sustained effort.

The committee recessed for lunch and will reconvene at 1:00 p.m. for a scheduled brief markup of S.328.